The Photon Hundred Percent

24.Nichterides

The traditional Japanese house is located in the headquarters of Calamity Seven, hidden under the auspices of Arzuzile Dome, this wooden house is deliberately provided specifically for Sakichi the swordsman.

There, on a table with Tatami mats, in the Washitsu room surrounded by sliding paper doors, with walls with pictures of mountains and trees, Jocelin Albert once again had to grumble, huffing, when the king of hers is hit by a checkmate, Shogi (Japanese chess) plays Sakichi this afternoon.

"Already, stop Albert-Kun, you're out of focus" Sakichi refused as Jocelin began reassembling Pawn on the Shogi board.

"Take another look, I almost beat you earlier, if only my minister had not missteps."

"It's free, it's not interesting at all against people who don't intend to win." Sakichi immediately removes the game board from the table. Jocelin that is not wrinkled just distract by sipping tea that starts to cool on the glass.

"You're a weird Albert-Kun, when you have a better chance of winning, but you don't want to use it."

"A chance? I didn't have a chance, Sakichi-San."

"You can't fool me, all this time you've been deliberately giving in, haven't you?"

"I deliberately gave up? Well, didn't you see, I was playing very seriously."

"Seriously or not, the truth is that you're a light, which is always moving faster than anything, so quickly sometimes it makes you go through a time where you shouldn't be, that's the view of the future, that's the view of the future, and you deliberately didn't use it in a shogi game against me, when you should have anticipated all my moves."

"Well, Sakichi-san! Talking about the future, it's not that simple, maybe you're right that sometimes I run too far, to get past the real time, but what I see at a glance at the disagreement of that time is just the final picture, while so many details of events were simply missed.

"This is difficult, I can't always change what will happen next time, because I don't know the details of events that have been missed, for example when playing Shogi with you, what I saw was your victory at the end of the game, no matter how hard I fiddled with the way of this chess boy, I would always lose, the reason was simple, because you were indeed more proficient than me.

"Your strategy, your experience, your calculations are clearly superior, that's what I mean by the details of missed events, these important details are mysteries that God has kept secret, deliberately hidden in order for man to decide for himself, and determine what his future will be like."

"Your woes remind me of my own teacher, Hideyoshi Sensei. He was a great swordsman, had intuition and very sharp eyes, could always read the movements of the enemy, but strangely he could not avoid his tragic death, when poisoned by his former brothers."

"Indeed, in the end the sharpness of human instinct will always be faced with such a situation. Death is destiny, and destiny is a very dark future. Like my view of Vileron, everything was so dark, as if I was dealing with something I could not know, which was my own death," Jocelin said.

"Albert-Kun, I know, you were trying to hide your anxiety, because you were blaming yourself too much for Rimedel, well I understand as a leader you must feel most responsible for all your members, but let this matter not make you lose your cool, because that is what your enemies expect."

"If they want an open war, frankly I will be happy to face it, but all this time Vileron has only played cat-sling with us, this kind of enemy is typical of the enemy I hate the most."

"I think Vileron's goal is to undermine your concentration, see how you unceremoniously destroyed Chronicle's headquarters just because a lost colleague of ours, from this event at least Vileron has learned of your weakness, you're easily hooked and have a hard time controlling yourself, if the people closest to you get hurt."

"You're right Sakichi-San, I think I'm too much."

"Whatever happens let Albert-Kun happen, at least you should be ready to accept the fact that, maybe Rimedel is dead, but don't blame yourself, all the members who joined this group, he said, from the beginning should have known the worst risks of their work, their lives could have been lost at any time, we are facing innumerable dangerous enemies, not just Vileron, he said, but the world and all its evil."

"Well, I'm going to rearrange our plans going forward, at least our comrades scattered around the world must be reminded again."

"Well, that's a good start for Albert-Kun, I think Bogdon must be working hard to contact them right now."

"Alright, it's great to be able to accompany you today, Sakichi-San. Next time, I'll beat you, '" Jocelin said before she bowed in salute.

***

Polynesia Zone, Pacific Ocean.

After a nearly 13-hour air journey from Lexington, Kentucky. Nic and Miss Ophelie land in Honolulu, the state capital of Hawaii, then travel back by sea to the island of Conowa, this island is their real destination. Although far apart, this exotic tropical island is still a family member of the Hawaiian archipelago.

Conowa Island is like a piece of porcelain shard of heaven that was thrown down to earth, a stretch of white sand that glistened under the hot sun, so contrasted with the green neatly lined up, so, the panorama is increasingly shady with a giant canopy barrier of tropical rain forest, which grows mooing hills.

Although the beauty is worth selling high, the beauty of the island is nothing more than a ghost island that is rarely touched, in addition to the lack of accommodation, violent storms that often rage in the region make tourists think twice about setting foot in Conowa.

The only access to it was a logistic boat, and it was limited to ten people, the ship was separated by three days carrying basic necessities for at least thirty heads of the Rongs family, he said, the natives who settled there, they lived in wooden stage cottages roofed nipah, lined neatly around the bay.

There is a small cottage there that is managed self-help by the local community, for limited visitors, the inn is beautiful without electricity and any electronics, lighting at night is only assisted by oil lamps. Overall the island is still very natural, without mobile networks and the internet, it is where the enjoyment lies, when life is completely separated from the bondage of gadgets, time will be more focused only for couples.

Late in the afternoon, Nic took Miss Ophel out of the room, after the woman had only slept, seasick. Ophel still felt dizzy after hours on the boat tossed waves, presumably looking for a little wind indeed no harm.

With just wearing hotpan and loose t-shirts, of course not to miss also vendora hats and sandals teplak, then he let go when Nic took his hands to leave the inn, while Nic himself, who was not the best, dress anti-beach like a mountain hipster, boots, jeans, and denim shirt issued.

Nic took him along the sandy beach, capturing some moments with digital camera shots, naturally left Ophelie busy running around tempting the waves. "This place is like heaven!" yells.

"Sure, and you're his bidadariya" Nic chimed in as he continued to photograph. Ophel ran up to him, looking at the photos, laughing at his own silly pose.

"You're fresh, aren't you, sweetie?"

"Yes, it feels like all my fatigue is completely gone, paid off!"

"Well, then go back to your room, change your clothes with more covered clothes."

"Lho! Why?" Ophel.

"Because we're going up there." Nic pointed to the main hill that loomed in the middle of the island, instead of playing, imagining his journey alone made Ophel's feet tremble, the route up there really challenging, really challenging, because it has to tear the thickets and split the giant trees of the tropical rain forest.

At first Ophel shook his head in fear, must have been imagined by the forest was filled with snakes and various strange insects. "We'll know all the secrets of this island from up there." Nic tries to convince him, Ophel still won't. "I'll carry you, if you're lazy to walk." persuaded Nic again.

Ophel remained unwilling, before Nic said, "Yes, you're going to stay at the inn alone, I might just come down the night." then Ophel gave up.

"I wait here." Nic shouted as he took it back to the inn.

During his wait, Nic's eyes never stopped observing the circumstances around, since he was actually investigating, since the beginning of their arrival to the island in the middle of this pacific ocean, he was actually investigating, the story that surrounds Conowa awakens the soul of his adventure

Nic knows that in recent years, the number of tourists visiting this island is decreasing, even in the last two months, no one has come to Conowa, there are rumors circulating that those who get there, will never come back again unless the name remains, they are lost and never found again.

Some say that they were washed away by the waves while snorkeling, some suspect they were strayed in the forest, then pounced on by mountain tigers, and others, some say they were swallowed alive by a giant python named Phyton nesting in a rock that stood firmly behind the inn, the even more sinister issue is that the indigenous people of Conowa Island, numbering no more than a hundred, are cannibals, the missing tourists they may have made one.

Nic got all the interesting stories from a logistic boat boy before they docked a few hours ago, without telling Ophel of course, otherwise, well, that's how the lady was, anyway, The ABK even had advised him to come home if he was hesitant, instead of being afraid or upset at Jocelin who yesterday recommended this deadly island, Nic was even more excited, even more, it is this kind of holiday that will impress her. Finally ABK just say "Be careful, see you in three days, may you still be alive."

Twenty minutes later, Ophel reappears in the backpacker's outfit, complete with a backpack and a bottle of water, and Nic leads him through the coconut groves, following the path of the firewood finder, passing through the ancient cemetery of the abandoned Rongs tribe, continue climbing to bring together resams, ferns and weed plants.

The path of the firewood finder, the longer the fading shape, no longer printed on the ground, unless it has been buried leaves and twigs are composting, the darker the atmosphere when both are further piercing the heart of the jungle, the more, walking on the forest floor in between the legs of hundreds of years old trees, full of hanging roots, noisy with the sound of monkey cubs and the squealing of hornbills that make the nape shudder, not to mention the mosquitoes that are not main swarming like bees.

They stopped for a while, because Ophel asked him, sitting at the root of the tree Nic observed Ophel who was busy collecting specimens of various vegetation of plants, he did not hesitate to use his knife to clean the bark of the tree, he did not hesitate to use his knife, then distill the reddish-colored sap into her tiny chemical glass tube, "What are you doing, honey?" ask Nic.

"Look Nic, if the sap of this tree is smeared on the arrowhead, enough to disable the **** male." he cried enthusiastically.

"Oh poison yes, be careful not to get your own knife." Nic warns, but he does not want to forbid, he knows this forest is a giant laboratory for Ophel, even during the trip they often stop because Ophel is interested in picking mushrooms that seem to be poisonous, too, I don't know what to do.

"You done yet?" nic asked when he saw Ophel had put his equipment back in the backpack, he nodded.

Nic exclaimed, "Let's get a little bit more, we'll get to the top, before sunset, maybe we can see the beautiful sunset there."

Ophel agreed, and they moved again.

The journey gets heavier, because it has to weigh itself when uphill in a 45-degree inclined terrain, the closer to the peak, the more humid the air, because the sun continues to weaken in the west, with the density of pepohanan increasingly reduced to change steep rocks, so far they have managed to reach the top, precisely under the Eucalyptus tree, they stopped there.

"At least, if you want to jump like that tell dong first, you make me hang!" Ophel nagging.

As if he didn't care, Nic said, pointing to the valley, "Look, honey, this is what I meant by the secret of Conowa Island."

Ophel's eyes immediately widened, "What the hell is this?" his hisses can't believe it.

Characteristic of the Eucalyptus tree, the tree was slender towering and canopied high, the branch where they were at least 25 meters from the ground, from the Eucalyptus branch, they were now a pair of spies, they were now, observing far down there, witness for yourself the dark side of Conowa island, a secret hidden behind this hill.

The forests on the slopes have been damaged replaced with semi-permanent bedengs with zinc roofs, heavy equipment dredgers land parked almost anywhere, there is a large barge that is mediated in the cliff niche, the, dump trucks roared with cargo, it appeared that people as big as ants were walking back and forth, some were manual laborers, and some were surveillance soldiers patrolling for weapons.

"Illegal mining, what are they dredging down there?"

"We'll find out soon enough, but at least my questions have been answered, about the tourists who are missing on this island, the possibility of them being killed because they were accidentally aware of this illegal activity."

"Huh? Why didn't I know there was such a story, you purposely kept it a secret from me?"

"Well, what else? I don't want to worry you."

"God! You're this!" Ophel snorted, then decided to just sit on the branch with her legs dangling, swaying, venting her emotions enjoying the potato chips she carried in her backpack, then she skimmed, "You and Albert! So this is what you always call a vacation."

Nic rolled back, then he said, "Well, I'm not really surprised."

"You should know Nic, or at least understand a little, this is the first time for me, all this time I only know the business in the lab."

"Yes, I'm sorry, but honestly, honey, this kind of vacation is for people like us."

"Suitable for you maybe, now what do you want to try? We don't carry enough armaments."

"We? You want to come with me down there!" Nic teased him, Ophel shook his head reluctantly, then grinned innocent. "What are your plans now?" ask Ophel later.

"First let's give our guests a small welcome."

"Guests?" aphel exclaimed in surprise, even almost falling when jumped, if only Nic could not deftly, shake his body, then help him stand up, balancing the body on the branches of Eucalyptus.

And at that moment there was the sound of bushes being opened, branches being trampled by shoes, Ophel then looked down at the Eucalyptus tree, dozens of people with haunted faces, in brown uniforms, and, they had squinted behind the scope of their firearms soared on the branches of Eucalyptus where they perched, like aiming at a bird.

"God! Since when?" Ophel asked wryly.

"From now on, they have been stalking us" replied Nic lightly, indifferent to the guerrillas below who shouted to get them down. Nic sighed for a moment, he said again, "What can I do, if it's like this."

Ophel replied in a flat tone, "Sorry I can't help."

"Well, all you have to do is stay here" said Nic, before a clinking sound like a scraping metal plate appeared, the voice appeared to accompany a pair of red wings that suddenly bloomed on Nichterides' back, stretched out full like an eagle.

"Ga... Garuda!" Ophel stammered with her mouth agape, before Nic immediately pulled her into an embrace, then her red wings covered both of them. The red wings were special, as the feathers made of metal slabs could be resized at will.

Protecting Ophel from the now fierce insurgents, a clinking sound was heard when enemy bullets collided with the wing, and for some time later, their fire stopped. They refilled the magazines while walking backwards slowly.

The opportunity was not wasted by Nichterides, he opened his wing, Ophel was not hurt in the slightest, only looked curled up in fear, Ophel did not have time to open his eyes, Nic had swooped down, at full speed, he said, ambushing the enemy below, flying low while spinning, his wings were not only powerful as a shield but also sharp and deadly, that was his weapon. One flap can make five people fall.

In the blink of an eye, some of the soldiers were lying down, some of them had run down the slope of the ramps full of weeds, they were screaming in fear, but it was useless, it was useless, they were like Antelopes separated from the herd, Nic had turned to target them, red swords shot from his wings like arrows, stabbing them, to death slumped into the reeds.

After muzzling the fleeing enemy, Nic immediately shot vertically into space, then disappeared behind the clouds. Ophel was still dumbfounded on the branches of Eucalyptus, he looked up at the sky, and his eyes grew bigger, looking at the gray cloud bundle where Nic had slipped earlier, slowly becoming reddish.

Not only Ophel, the phenomenon of red clouds that clearly has made people in the valley of the mine hill to be stunned, with mouth wide open, as wide as possible, from behind the occasional cloud they could see a winged figure flying in circles.

The red clouds were bubbling, crackling, the sounds were like scraping metals, gleaming at hearing, making people hold their voices stuck in their throats, he said, then slowly the clouds changed shape into a pair of red giant wings, the sky became so dense, that it cast a shadow of a giant wing over the valley.

Like rain, so when the giant wings of the sky suddenly dropped their cargo, jostling, roaring, tearing apart whatever was in the valley. What a terrible sight, watching thousands of swords fall stabbing into the valley.

The air was red, explosions were going on here and there, bulls, heavy equipment, barges, sand trucks, swords were like colonies of bees that were swarmed in full control, they destroyed every facility but no one hurt a human, as if they were left running to save themselves.

The sky turned bright again, when all the swords had been dropped, then the swords that were sharpened on the surface turned into dust, enveloping the land with red fog, that was when Nic who was still living in the sky, was, it immediately swooped down into the valley, pierced through the fog, and could no longer be seen what was happening.

Ophel just looked at all that with a stiff and trembling body, he muttered involuntarily, "Why do I have to deal with these monsters! It feels crazy."

"Well, who do you mean that monster, Ophel?"

The woman turned to the side, it turned out that on the branch of Eucalyptus had been present another person who made her surprised not the reeds of the braids, Jocelin Albert had stood arrogantly with her watching there, somehow since when.

"Ten.. of course you guys, Calamity Seven! you're crazy people." he exclaimed.

Jocelin smiled, "The truth is you're part of us too. Indeed, this is how we work."

"Why did you come here, too? Didn't I tell you, don't travel far if you don't have to."

"All your anxiety is meaningless now, we don't need to hold back anymore, there's no point in hiding. It's not for no reason I asked Nic to bring you here, of course to get used to it, Ophel! Like it or not, war and bloodshed are inevitable realities of this chosen path, it feels as if we are getting closer to Vileron and his army, I can see it, he said, the end of all this."

"Rimedels? How's she?"

"I don't know, maybe he's dead. So far Vileron has never acted so blatantly? But after Rimedel's case, they have hit the war drums. The war is open."

"Will victory be on our side? Albert!"

"Hopefully! Well, I think Nic will be back here soon, I'll be waiting for you at the inn, there's something important we'll talk about."

Jocelin's body then disappeared into the wind, it was true that soon Ophel could see a winged body darting from the valley, roaring towards him on the branches of Eucalyptus, then perched accurately by his side.

"What do you got down there, Garuda Man?"

"It's bad, it's bad" Nic said, after he hid his wings back, "What do you think this is?" he continued later, handing over a piece of rock he had taken from the valley.

Ophel accepted and watched for a while, then he said, "This rock doesn't seem to be from this planet, I'll check it with more adequate equipment when I get home."

"There's tons down there, I think you need to check it out for yourself, but tomorrow, it's late, let's go home."

"But I'm lazy to walk."

"Oh, so you want an unusual way? Alright!" Nic was not willing to waste time, his wings were stretched again, then hugged Ophel.

"Why is the time to go, not just like this?" oceh Ophel's.

"Have you never heard the saying, bothered to have a good time later?" timpal Nic, before the two of them shot towards space, and became a small dot in the sky.

***